The New MacBook Airs... meh...

chcameron:

New MacBook Airs. 11” and 13”

I say, “meh.”

One word: “SNAP!”

That’s the sound it’ll make when you put it in your bag and accidentally lean against just once.  It’s just too damn thin and not small enough.  Why is Steve Jobs so afraid of making a netbook?

Yeah, big fat “MEH” from me, too.  I have yet to read about the event, but I know to not expect much.  Someone recently suggested Apple is at it’s most innovative right now.  Really? Is that why it took them almost 3 iPhones to add cut and paste?  Is that why there isn’t a camera on the iPad?

I’ll post more about today’s “event” later.  Until then, I remain adequately jaded.

OLPC--the non-profit that inspired the world to innovate, has given up on innovation. A sad thing, indeed.

New XO-3 Announced: Just a Marvel Moby Tablet, Re-branded (Yawn)

Posted by Wayan Vota on May 27, 2010


Marvel’s $100 Moby tablet

Back in the day, One Laptop Per Child was innovative with its technology. It came up with a low-cost, durable, Open Source laptop for education when no one else would. And in bringing the XO-1 to market, it changed the technology industry.

That OLPC is now long gone.

In its place, we have a shell of a company. They don’t do software anymore - that’s spun off to Sugar Labs. They don’t do deployments anymore - that’s the country’s responsibility or OLPC Foundation (whatever that is). And now OLPC has just given up on hardware innovation.

via olpcnews.com

Hit up that link for more info about the “new” XO-3.

Back in November of 2005 I blogged for the first time about OLPC and their proposed “$100 laptop” that they wanted to sell to developing nations. Two years later I was among the first in the world to order my own XO-1 laptop, which sadly had doubled in price, but hey, who thought they could really do $100? The point is, I’ve been a fan of the OLPC effort from day 1. However, after getting my XO-1, I discovered a few hardware flaws and found myself underwhelmed by the choices made by the guys behind OLPC and came to the conclusion that they’d lost their way.

The good news is that untold numbers of kids in developing nations have benefited from having access to these computers. The bad news is that all that made OLPC different from any other charity organization (innovation, vision and the belief that technology can make a positive difference) is gone—not because any of those differences didn’t serve them, but because they chose not to embrace those differences.

As Wayan Vota, the guy behind OLPCNews.com, said in the above quoted post: “It is sad news for all of us that remember that original OLPC. The OLPC that could push an industry create a whole new form factor overnight - the netbook.”

It’s true, back in 2005, all that we had that was vaguely netbook-like was the UMPC—which was just a really small laptop with current specs. OLPC had the balls to suggest that computers didn’t need all the bells and whistles to be tools of learning (or even perfectly reasonable tools for any number of things). They were right—so right that an entire new genre of laptop came into being.

Hell, I wonder if we’d even have the iPad if it weren’t for OLPC and their XO-1.

Pics of my OLPC XO Running Ubuntu! Wahoo!!

Check it out--a year ago, Linux on the XO was annoying because it needed an external mouse and was a huge pain to install. Thanks to Teapot's instructions over at the OLPCNews.com forum it was largely a breeze. I did have to change "/dev/mmcblk0p1" to "/dev/mmcblk1p1" to get one bit to work, but aside from that, it was pretty straightforward. My only problem now is working in Ubuntu--anyone know how to change the time on the clock? Can't work it out at all.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from thepete's posterous

OLPC XO G1G1 (Give 1 Get 1) 2008 Begins Today!

Around this time, back in 2007, you may recall me freaking out about the new XO-1 laptop from OLPC I was waiting for.  OLPC is the name of a non-profit that was created in order to design a laptop computer so cheaply that 3rd World governments would want to buy One Laptop Per Child in their country--get it? OLPC.  Their plan initially was to make a laptop that would cost $100, which they'd then charge $100 for.  I know--zero mark-up, these guys must be COMMIES! ;)

Sadly, they didn't quite make their target price, but $200 for a netbook as full featured, as this thing is, still ain't bad.  Last year, OLPC announced a program called "Give 1 Get 1" or G1G1 and it allowed Americans to buy two OLPC XO laptops--they would get one, and the other would go to a kid in a 3rd-world country.  Pretty cool, huh?  So, naturally, since it was mixing gadgets with philantrhopy (and the XO is a great little piece of hardware) I had to support it. 

Today, the program returns via Amazon.com.  Check out http://amazon.com/xo to order now!

But you may be wondering just what the heck some poor kid in a village is going to do with a laptop?  The answer is easy: learn.

The XO's onboard OS, called SugarOS, comes with a bunch of great educational applications (called "activities") that help kids learn about all sorts of things, from math, to music, to more.  If the village has a single computer with Internet access, every XO in the village can access the same connection and can even share Internet connections amongst each other XO thanks to Mesh networking technology.  Mesh allows each XO to connect and each XO user to share activities to encourage kids to work together (up to a kilometer away!).

But a laptop in the middle of the 3rd World?

The XO has a huge battery lifespan--one charge gives it about twice as long a run as my MacBook gets on it's battery.  Part of this lifespan jump is thanks to the XO's dual mode laptop display which allows you to switch from back-lit-color to straight black & white with just a button-press.  The B&W mode is perfect for outdoor settings.  No moving parts also allows the XO to use less energy.  Its case is durable and practical (it even has a handle) and is generally spill and dust proof.  I know, I have one.

My only gripe about the XO is the OS.  While I understand creating a non-windows, non-Windows-based lappie for kids (we want them to use computers in a positive way), I do feel that the OS limits the kids on how much they can do.  While the laptop's processor surpasses that of my old, 1998 Toshiba Satellite's, I was not able to work on my novel and research on the web simultaneously on the XO.  This is something I did every day for a year-straight on my Satellite.  The good news is that it is possible to run Linux (and even Windows XP--though you wouldn't want to) on the XO.  It alows you to pack a bit more punch and take a bit more advantage of the RAM.  Of course, I say this as a computer-geek-extraordinaire--not as a kid in a third world country.  Speaking of which, 3rd World kids seem to enjoy the XO just fine.

Why not drop $400 and let another kid get one?

http://amazon.com/xo

Or get it at my Amazon store here:

http://astore.amazon.com/thepetecom-20/detail/B001GB87EI

Either way, any computer is going to beat the computer most of these kids are going to get.  Make a difference and own the laptop that invented the netbook.

Posted by email from thepete's posterous